The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The primary goal of the $787 billion package is to stimulate the economy in the short term and invest in education and other essential public services to ensure the long-term economic health of our nation.

ARRAprovides approximately $100 billion for education, including increases of $17.1 billion in the Pell grant program and $200 million in work study funding, and a $53.6 billion appropriation for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program. Of that amount, the U. S. Department of Education (USDE) awarded governors approximately $48.6 billion via formula to advance essential education reforms to benefit students. The Texas portion of the SFSF is almost $4 billion, with $3.2 billion allocated to the Education Services Fund and $723 million to the Government Services Fund (GSF).

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has been designated administrative responsibility to manage the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Government Services Fund (GSF). The GSF award to the State of Texas by the Department of Education totals $723,165,683. These federal funds were appropriated by the Texas Legislature in Art. XII of SB1, the GAA for the 2010-2011 biennium.

The Governor issued Executive Order (EO) RP-72 on August 25, 2009, relating to ARRA and federal funding for Texas. The EO mandates compliance with ARRA reporting requirements, and makes key coordinating and reporting directives to state agencies and public institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Note: The information on this web page is for the ARRA GSF ONLY; it is not intended for other ARRA grants or direct awards to state agencies and public IHEs outside the ARRA GSF.

The THECB is designated the prime recipient for the ARRA GSF, and as such is the sole reporting entity to register with FederalReporting.gov in compliance with Section 1512 quarterly reporting requirements. All sub-recipients of ARRA GSFs must report required information directly to the Coordinating Board, who will combine all 1512 data and report cumulative statewide results for these funds. The first 1512 report was filed for the quarter ending September 30, 2009, and can be accessed at the link below in the reports section.

In order to comply with all state and federal guidelines and to collect required extensive 1512 reporting data from all GSF sub-recipients in a timely and accurate manner, the Coordinating Board developed application documents, procedures, instructions, and guidelines.

The first round of applications had an October 30, 2009, deadline. Completed, approved, and fully executed applications in compliance with State and ARRA requirements are issued a Notice of Grant Award (NOGA), with an effective start date of October 1, 2009. Once the NOGA is issued, agencies/institutions may incur allowable expenses for reimbursement. Expenditures incurred after October 1, 2009, that are a part of the projects approved budget and expenditure plan are allowable. Coordinating Board ARRA grant staff will continue to process applications until every GSF recipient has been issued a NOGA to expend funds in compliance with all ARRA and State guidelines, and legislative directives outlined in Article-XII of the GAA.

In addition to monthly reports to the Coordinating Board, all State agencies and Public four-year Universities expending ARRA funds must file weekly reports (per Executive Order RP-72, issued August 25, 2009) with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for funds allocated or requested. Art. XII, Section 5, also required entities to submit a plan to the Governor and Legislative Budget Board on the intended use of funds by September 30, 2009, and further requires quarterly reports on expenditures to the LBB. Here are links to these reports:

The THECB performs desk reviews and fiscal on-site monitoring of subrecipients as part of a comprehensive risk management plan. The THECB's monitoring plan and final reports for monitoring engagements can be viewed at the links below.

GSF subrecipients using funds for infrastructure purpose are required to certify that the investment has received the full review and vetting required by law and that the chief executive accepts responsibility that the infrastructure investment is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. The following GSF subrecipient has reported using funds for infrastructure and a copy of their certification is available on their website.